The word "Doctor" originally stemmed from Latin, and meant "a scholar" or "a teacher." Certainly, the term is used in this manner for many doctorates outside of the just the medical usage of the word "doctor" (more specifically, physician). That said, a very important part of a physician's job is to be a doctor who teaches.
I've always liked teaching and had a knack for explaining things in a way that is sensible to laypeople. Not to mention, I always make it a fun process.
Thus the idea of teaching interns and residents has always appealed to me as I went through the more senior years of my training. However, I did not get to do this quite as much as I had liked.
In my hospital, there are currently two types of structures on our general medical floors: superteams (which consist of 1 senior and 2 interns) and solo teams (just a single senior). Throughout my time as a senior, I've mostly been placed on solo teams, and not through my own request. Thus, I ended up with a mere few weeks of teaching time over the course of all the time I've been here.
Of course, teaching opportunities always come up in these types of medical settings, even outside of the floors. But there's a specific learning environment that is supposed to be promoted on the floors, which is often difficult due to how busy we are due to staffing deficiencies. I suppose, in that sense, I didn't miss out on quite as much teaching as I'd assume.
Just today, I was able to discuss a few topics with a couple of interns and a junior resident, including supervising the placement of a central line. Those types of interactions do bring me some level of job satisfaction.
It's essential to remember that I'm still a trainee. Humility is the key for me to keep learning, as I'm still going to be a student for life even though I may be able to teach some topics. A strong teacher knows that he must never stop learning.
Posted Using INLEO
